Every February, Los Angeles resident and filmmaker Tani Ikeda said that she goes through a struggle on the anniversary of her assault.
"Valentine's Day is always hard for me because every store front is decorated in red and pink reminders that this was the day I was sexually assaulted," Ikeda told BuzzFeed News.
So Ikeda decided to spend this year's Valentine's Day organizing #SurvivorLoveLetter, a campaign that encourages survivors of sexual assault to write themselves love letters.
"After internalizing so much self-hate, perhaps the most radical thing I can do is love myself," she said.
Ikeda organized a hashtag and Tumblr page along with Suey Park, another feminist activist, as "an act of defiance, a declaration of self-love, and a call to allies to honor the survivors in their lives."
For many survivors, specific days are especially triggering. #ValentinesDay is linked to a culture of sexual violence. #survivorloveletter
Healing isn't linear. Some days may be awful, but some days might feel hopeful. Good days and bad days. #survivorloveletter
Surviving is more than enough, but I hope everyone has the support they need to thrive as well. One step at a time. #survivorloveletter
"I imagined what it would mean for my younger self to wake up on Valentine's Day and read message after message of public support for surviving," she said. "That's when I knew I wanted to create #SurvivorLoveLetter."
The campaign has received an "overwhelming" number of submissions so far, both anonymously and publicly.
Even though #SurvivorLoveLetter was centered around on Valentine's Day, the organizers hope people continue to submit their love letters on Tumblr and use the hashtag as a "daily declaration of self-love."
"Many of the messages I received confessed that they had never written a love letter to themselves before and that it was an incredibly healing experience," Ikeda said.
